Review Summary: A pill of romantic optimism
What Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites – graduates of the Indianapolis music scene and two independent artists with contrasting backgrounds – started as a cozy side project quickly captured the attention of many eyes and ears, turning Wishy into a full-fledged touring quintet. With their second album, the stakes naturally skyrocketed; therefore, where the band easily compensated for rough edges on
Triple Seven with their infectious charm, a greater sense of caution is felt on this new record. Nevertheless, the musicians’ passion for making noise and letting loose has by no means disappeared, which yields additional dividends for
Nature’s Pill.
The record’s musical reference points largely remain the same: they stretch from shimmering 90s arena rock to whimsical indie rock and twee pop. At the same time, on
Nature’s Pill, the band has softened their shoegaze-inflected reflections, making the expression of feelings grander. Since guitarist Dimitri Morris and bassist Mitch Collins joined the songwriting process, the album has transformed into a true treatise on melancholy, crushing infatuation, and the emotional turbulence of youth. The musicians have fun in spite of everything while simultaneously rethinking the dangerous intoxication of romance, resulting in a sound that is louder, sharper, and far more (perhaps even excessively) composed.
The record kicks off effectively with the hum of amplifiers, before transitioning into the nervous, springy guitar jangle of the track
All the Rage. Heavy emotional struggles acquire the comic grotesquery of youthful maximalism here, with Krauter and Pitchkites exchanging lines as if acting out a miniature tragedy before us. The track
Covergirl convincingly picks up the unfolding overture, inviting us to glide along a current of multiple guitar layers, while
Sensational recreates the bright energy of 90s radio rock, serving as a compelling anthem with a punchy rhythmic delivery.
In
Mona Lisa, Krauter and Pitchkites sing in unison, backed by the rest of the band with their bold power-pop chords. The track
Lovesick bridges regrets over departed youth with jangle-pop and grunge textures, while the bouncy rhythm and prickly guitars in
Blitz set a positive, life-affirming mood for the vocalist. There is no shortage of minor sonic experiments either. For instance,
Freak 99 veers into the territory of angular post-punk, swapping familiar sweetness for greater toughness, while in
Kiss Kiss Kiss, unexpected auto-tune, a drum machine, and explosive pop-punk shape the eternal cycle of breakups.
Of course, there are moments where Wishy stumble slightly. For instance, the track
Headscratcher feels overly straightforward, where in their attempt to ironize arena-rock clichés, the musicians come dangerously close to getting bogged down in them themselves. Or, for example,
You’re Not Serious occasionally loses its focus, which can be interpreted either as a musical portrayal of unrequited feelings or as a creative miscalculation.
By the finale, in the track
Party World, the album finds a finely tuned balance between ambivalent escapism and personal confession, concluding in the spirit of the early noughties when authors genuinely believed in the chorus’s ability to heal emotional wounds. This precisely is the main gift of
Nature’s Pill: despite their differing tastes, Krauter and Pitchkites craft ringing melodies and catchy hooks with solid internal weight. Moving past the status of promising musicians, Wishy bet on a conscious romantic optimism in our grim world, taking a weighty step toward greater recognition.
